Monday, November 12, 2007

I dislike the term "blog" but I'm doing it anyway.

Dear internet,

That's how this works, right? I write to the internet and then it tells me if I am good enough or not to do this?

Look, I don't like the word "blog." It's all "look at me I'm all emo" and "here are thoughts you didn't even THINK!" It's really not something I'd ever really care about or want to invest my time in. I've tried this once before when blogs were just catching on, and I lasted maybe 3 days. And yes, I understand how awesomely existential I'm being by saying I dislike making a blog and then creating one at the same time. But I believe that this time I have a purpose and a reason to share my thoughts.

First reason: I enjoy professional wrestling. I've been a fan since about 1995, and I've lived in the Philadelphia area and was lucky enough to watch ECW on a local channel. I started to get into independent wrestling just recently, though. In 2006, I went to an ROH/CZW supershow at the ECW Arena and was immediately hooked. A few months later, on June 24th, WWE ran an ECW houseshow at the ECW Arena. It was a very good show, with an atmosphere full of electricity and animosity. People were insulted that ECW wasn't the same as 6 years prior. Fans were split 50/50 over the Angle/RVD main event. The place was packed and hot (literally and figuratively) the entire night, and I totally felt that I got my $35-worth.

That night, my brother had convinced me to go to a show the next day at the same arena for a promotion called "Chikara Pro." He told me Larry Sweeney was in it, who I thought was awesome just from the 10 minutes I saw him at the CZW show earlier that year. He also told me that Claudio Castagnoli, Chris Hero, and many others that I had seen in ROH previously would be a part of the show as well. We showed up at the ECW Arena for "Young Lion's Cup IV, Night 3" late and still managed to get front row seats. Instead of a few hundred people yelling curses, getting drunk, and being IN YER FACE!! (ECW ECW ECW), there were maybe 100 people there. The atmosphere could never match what we had been a part of the previous night, right?

It turned out I was right, but for the better. Instead of a crowd full of people yelling at each other about how much Cena sucks or how real wrestling is (no, wrestling is really REALLY real), everyone was cheering the faces and booing the heels. Everyone was into every match. Instead of a building of animosity and hatred, we were surrounded by a wrestling event that couldn't be any more fun. When you want to explain wrestling to a friend who doesn't like wrestling, and you sit them down to watch Raw, the automatic first thing that comes on is one of the following: a) Coach trying to blow up a leprechaun; b) scantily clad women having a waterballoon fight; c) Vince McMahon talking about men's nether-regions. You almost feel embarassed to show off something that you love. I'm actually not knocking WWE here, because you can't argue with a billionaire's methods that obviously work. But sometimes you just want wrestling and storylines that make sense, and you want to show a true reason as to WHY you love wrestling.

To me, Chikara is the reason today that I love wrestling. It's why thousands of people love ROH. And Chikara may be a smaller niche of a promotion like PWG or ROH, but it's a niche with strong booking, solid wrestling, and an old-school atmosphere that you want to be a part of. Most importantly, Chikara is fun. Like many things (especially professional sports), people take an interest in something to the point that it's become too important, where it seems like a win or a loss could mean life or death. Sports are entertainment. Professional wrestling is entertainment. Chikara bases every single match, every single storyline, every single wrestler on the basis of fun and entertainment, and that's why I love Chikara.

I stumbled across this video, and I was quickly filled with rage for the following reasons:1) he knows nothing of Chikara;2) he doesn't try to know anything about Chikara;3) he says negative things 90% of time and gives the show a 7/10; and4) he recorded himself talking, which is the most retarded thing to exist on YouTube.

I may dislike the word "blog," but "vlog" makes me want to stab. No one wants to watch someone else stumble over words and watch them talk about something that they know nothing about. He could have written something down and posted it on the internet and had the same points without looking like a fool -- which brings me back to my other basic reason for starting this blog. I want to get the word about Chikara out. I want to be able to get out thoughts about wrestling that get stuck in my head with nowhere to go. And I want to do it in a way that won't infuriate people like the above video did to me.

I'm sorry that this post really had nothing to do with wrestling, but you have to get to know me a little before you read what I write. I'll end this article (hey, that sounds better than "blog") with my picks for Friday's show to get some Chikara goodness in here. If you'll notice, the URL is ChikaraFans.blogspot.com. ChikaraFans is a registered freakin' trademark of Dan Lowth, so please go visit his site, ChikaraFans.com. Don't forget to check out the message board which has awesome Chikara regulars, such as Dave, George, Nude Smurf, john, and many others who are good people and you should meet at the shows. And finally, I'll pretty this site up someday. That part, though, isn't that important to me, as getting the word out is the first goal at hand. Thanks for reading and enjoy this weekend's shows! And always check out ChikaraPro.com for information about the fed!

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"The Battle of Who Could Care Less" -- Friday, November 16th -- Reading, PA

Passion Hasegawa VS Brodie Lee -- I have never seen Passion Hasegawa before, but I don't think anyone stands a chance against Brodie Lee right now. He's a full head taller than 90% of Chikara's wrestlers. Here's hoping to a pre-bell boot to the face!

Portia Perez VS Sara del Ray -- I've never seen Portia wrestle, either, but I've seen Sara several times in Chikara. I'm going to go with Sara del Ray due to the size and experience advantage.

Shane Storm VS Chuck Taylor -- Oh how I fear the failed comebacks by Shane Storm to any of Chuck Taylor's jokes in this match. I want to know what happened to Shane Storm, actually. He was one of Chikara's top faces in 2005, had solid matches in 2006, and has barely done anything of note in 2007. His team won the King of Trios tournament in February and he could barely vault off of that. It almost feels like as the talent around him has continued to improve, he has stayed at the same level. Include the fact that many non-Chikara student imports regularly put on some of the shows' best matches, and you have Storm losing in matches that involve storylines he's no where near (ie, Hero and Sweeney joining up at the Rey de Voladores show). Chuck Taylor should win this one -- he needs to regain some status after losing to Helios last month.

Jigsaw & Los Ice Creams VS Mitch Ryder, Larry Sweeney, and Robbie Ellis -- This should be very very fun. Robbie Ellis getting his butt pinched by El Hijo del Ice Cream will be one of the most awkward moments of the night. I see Mitch Ryder picking up the pinfall over one of Los Ice Creams to make his anti-Mexicans story progress to the 11/18 match against Lince Dorado.

MIYAWAKI VS UltraMantis Black -- UMB's shrieks while getting punched in the chest should be fantastic. I find it hard to pick a winner of this match. I'll take MIYAWAKI in his return to Chikara, mostly because I've picked the heels to win 3/4 matches up until now.

Lince Dorado & El Pantera VS The Olsen Twins -- I believe that if Lince's team wins, they'll have three points. The Olsens have zero due to their loss in Barnesville to Cheech & Cloudy. I don't see Lince/El Pantera winning and having their title shot suspended until February, especially when the tournament to kick off the year will be a much bigger deal. I want to see the Olsens pick up a point now, especially since they've improved as much as they have, and they've suffered two very tough losses in August and September. My pick will be the Olsens, who I believe will get 3 points within the first few months of 2008.

The Colony & Mike Quackenbush VS Team FIST & The Osirian Portal -- I love atomicos matches so much. I'm glad to see Akuma back so quickly, as well, seeing that he was on crutches for the tag title match last month. The experience between the two teams is rather balanced, as you have Quackenbush with 3 relative rookies against FIST with two rookies. Akuma will be angry after being put on the shelf and losing the titles while injured, and Icarus lost both of his October matches. In fact, the Portal lost both of their October matches as well. You'd think momentum would help the Colony/Quack be favored in this match, but I'm going the other way and picking FIST/Portal to win.

Claudio Castagnoli & Equinox VS Chris Hero & Shayne Hawke -- http://youtube.com/watch?v=IWI8Bv5PEhs I think that Hero will beat Equinox in Hellertown, so this match won't be his revenge. Claudio has already defeated Sweeney and Taylor in singles matches, and he pinned Mitch Ryder to win the Cibernetico. He'll defeat Hero in Philadelphia, but in Reading he'll pin Shayne Hawke to vanquish another member of the Kings of Wrestling.

Helios (c) VS Hydra (for the Young Lions Cup) -- This should be fun. Here's hoping that Hydra busts out some awesome lucha like the 7/27 CT show. And to everyone who hasn't seen Hydra's entrance to "Rehab" yet, you won't be disappointed. Unfortunately, all the steroidspower-lifting in the world won't be able to take the Cup from Helios.

Incoherence & Tim Donst VS Sabian, Joker, and Eddie Kingston -- There are two main stories meeting here: Kingston VS Donst and Kingston VS Hallowicked. This should be an entertaining main event. Again, I'm stuck as to who the winner could be. It would be hard to pick against the team with the current tag champions, but BLK OUT are a very good team as well. I don't think it's time for Donst to exact the revenge of both losses to Kingston in this match, so my pick will be the BLK OUT. Don't worry, guys, you'll get to go home happy because Tim Donst will be, as always, standing proud at the end of the night.

Overall, this should be a good entertaining show, an excellent send-off to the Reading Coliseum.